Moving to San Diego from VA. keep or sell old truck

Status
Not open for further replies.
There is so much to deal with when trying to establish residency and some degree of permanence out here, I agree with those saying to sell it there and get something out here which is not going to possibly have issues passing smog and getting registered and insured. The out of state plates thing you can only get away with for so long, and if you are honest, when you do register it, about the first day you first drove it into California, they will start your registration from that day, not for a year from the day you actually registered it.

Then again moving out here and not having your own transportation right off the bat is also not something to look forward to either.

I have OBD1, which they charge more to smog test, and it has the sniffer stuck up the tailpipe and visually inspectedf to check for the presence of every factory smog device.

I see big older SUVs with for sale signs everywhere. it would be different if you owned your current vehicle from day one and maintenanced the snot out of it and had a heartfelt attachment to it.

You might not even want such a large vehicle out here. 87 octane was $3.87 a gallon yesterday, at one of the cheaper stations, and your city mileage in Virginia will not be comparable to out here. Drop MPG expectations by 30% city driving.

At the top and bottom of every hill, of which there are many, is a traffic light, and it will stop you, 9 times out of 10. Once you achieve the speed limit it is time to brake, and wait.

And if you have a tall seat, you will see that everybody else, the second they have to brake, starts looking at their phone they've been clutching in their manicured jewel encrusted paw for dear life.

Perhaps it is best not to be able to see this infuriating nature of the local population.
 
Hi - first post here.

Having just moved from San Diego to the D-FW area, I'd say sell it and get something easier on MPG. Like wrcsixeight says, fuel is higher cost due to CA's "must be refined here" policy and ever expanding gas tax. The hilly terrain combined with sub-optimal red light timing eats away at MPG as well.

I never had trouble registering our out of state vehicles (or "49 state emissions" as CA calls it). I drove for 6+ months on one car up in the Bay Area when I first got to CA before registering it. You just tell the DMV you got there two weeks ago
smile.gif
San Diego, like other areas, doesn't have enough cops for this type of petty enforcement - for perspective they stopped responding to noise complaints long ago.

Note that Cats are often stolen there in SD so I would park somewhere that makes it difficult to remove it.

Other than that, welcome to the best climate in the world!
 
Hi, OP here. Thanks everyone for all the replies. Yes, divorce sucks and seems to be one of the greatest destroyers of wealth. She left me in debt and took six figures out of my 401. It seems i am going to have to replace the cats if i am to take truck to cali. General concensus seems to be to just sell here and buy something in LA or San Diego. I am investigating options and will let everyone know what I finally figure out. I make an ok living for southern/central VA. But it May be a struggle for a while in higher cost cali until the house here is sold. Can buy a lot of gas for the cost of car pmts. Anybody care to guess if i could get away with VA tags in Calif. for two or three months? Or is that asking for trouble?

Was asked about the cars that were in my signature.
2001 Silverado 2500HD. 6.0 125k mi, M1 10w30 or M1 5w30. 12mpg on a good day. Still have this one.
2012 Honda CR-V. Went with the ex-wife
2001 Intrepid R/T. Gave to sister, she traded on an Escape
2000 VW Passat 1.8t 5sp. Gave to son. Now has 275k mi, still looks good and still gets 30mpg. No sludge as M1 0w40 every 5k since new
 
Do you know why the previous owner hollowed out the cats? Unless he was just trying to stick it to the man (and the next guy, in this case), I would wonder if it has other emissions-related problems that a CA inspection will uncover.

If you do fix it, use good parts so you only have to change them once.

Here's a question for California residents. Is a 2500 subject to the same emissions tests/requirements as lighter vehicles?
 
Sell it in VA for a few reasons:

1) It is not a desirable truck in CA (Domestic 6.0), at least not as big as in VA
2) It is super illegal to cheat on emission (whether you do that or before you get it), and don't count on it passing as your emission system is a cheat to not throw a CEL.
3) It cost a lot when gas is $4/gal on a regular basis here.

Just sell that thing and move on, get a smaller pickup or a car or something more practical in CA.

Vehicle emission limit is model / config specific, not a blanket limit for all in the same category. CARB cat only for cars originally came with CA emission, I don't think you can use that for Federal emission vehicle as it won't fit in many models.
 
Last edited:
No emissions testing or vehicle inspections down here, thankfully.

Its too much trouble to take truck to CA and then have to jump through hoops with smog testing and failing.
 
Only vehicles older than MY 1999 require a tailpipe sniffer smog check in CA. Newer vehicles only get a visual emissions components inspection and an OBD check. A hollowed-out cat will result in the downstream O2 sensor detecting too much oxygen relative to what the pre-converter O2 sensor measures, and this will trigger a CEL. As far as the supposedly draconian emissions laws go in CA, considering the state's population density and number of vehicles on the road I sympathize with those wanting our air as clean as possible. Compare LA smog thirty years ago and now.
 
Originally Posted by vavavroom
Only vehicles older than MY 1999 require a tailpipe sniffer smog check in CA. Newer vehicles only get a visual emissions components inspection and an OBD check. A hollowed-out cat will result in the downstream O2 sensor detecting too much oxygen relative to what the pre-converter O2 sensor measures, and this will trigger a CEL. As far as the supposedly draconian emissions laws go in CA, considering the state's population density and number of vehicles on the road I sympathize with those wanting our air as clean as possible. Compare LA smog thirty years ago and now.


Yeah, it's kinda strange sometimes on these boards. It's like if someone killed someone and asked for tips on how to bury the body and everyone chipping in telling them how to do it. No one said anything about hey, maybe you shouldn't be driving around with hollowed out cats.
 
OP here. I agree about not driving on hollowed out cats. I just dont have the funds to fix right away. Will fix and sell in VA or will fix in Cali as soon as I can. Thanks to everyone for your input.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by vavavroom
Only vehicles older than MY 1999 require a tailpipe sniffer smog check in CA. Newer vehicles only get a visual emissions components inspection and an OBD check. A hollowed-out cat will result in the downstream O2 sensor detecting too much oxygen relative to what the pre-converter O2 sensor measures, and this will trigger a CEL. As far as the supposedly draconian emissions laws go in CA, considering the state's population density and number of vehicles on the road I sympathize with those wanting our air as clean as possible. Compare LA smog thirty years ago and now.


Yeah, it's kinda strange sometimes on these boards. It's like if someone killed someone and asked for tips on how to bury the body and everyone chipping in telling them how to do it. No one said anything about hey, maybe you shouldn't be driving around with hollowed out cats.


No, it's not kinda strange and your analogy is wrong in this case. The OP is asking for advice on a situation he did not create but is now having to deal with. To a person on this board all said do not take this vehicle to the land of fruits and nuts but sell it. No one I believe cited nefarious work arounds.
 
Originally Posted by WagonWheel

Note that Cats are often stolen there in SD so I would park somewhere that makes it difficult to remove it.


They sell a steel cable "snare" that wraps around cats to slow down their theft. Good for higher vehicles like Tacomas with bolt-up flanges. They seem stupid but the steel cable is sloppy enough it frustrates the sawzall.
 
Originally Posted by Egg_Head
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by vavavroom
Only vehicles older than MY 1999 require a tailpipe sniffer smog check in CA. Newer vehicles only get a visual emissions components inspection and an OBD check. A hollowed-out cat will result in the downstream O2 sensor detecting too much oxygen relative to what the pre-converter O2 sensor measures, and this will trigger a CEL. As far as the supposedly draconian emissions laws go in CA, considering the state's population density and number of vehicles on the road I sympathize with those wanting our air as clean as possible. Compare LA smog thirty years ago and now.


Yeah, it's kinda strange sometimes on these boards. It's like if someone killed someone and asked for tips on how to bury the body and everyone chipping in telling them how to do it. No one said anything about hey, maybe you shouldn't be driving around with hollowed out cats.


No, it's not kinda strange and your analogy is wrong in this case. The OP is asking for advice on a situation he did not create but is now having to deal with. To a person on this board all said do not take this vehicle to the land of fruits and nuts but sell it. No one I believe cited nefarious work arounds.


Well analogies are never perfect, otherwise they wouldn't be analogies.

He is driving around on public roads without cats and he knows it. I wouldn't do it and it's considered a massive EPA violation with some hefty fines. Now OP brings up the fact that he's going to CA. What about just not driving it around without cats and either selling it or fixing it pronto?
 
As someone said-not only do you need "Cats" BUT they need to be C.A.R.B. certified. Due to regulations-the air is now cleaner than 50 years ago-with three times the population.
 
Last edited:
Sell the truck buy a $5000 Volt apply for HOV tags, sell the Volt for $10000 in Cali because it has the new HOV tags due to never being in Cali.

Good Luck, commuting there can suck as can parking, mind find yourself wanting a motorcycle after living there a few months
 
Originally Posted by Rmay635703
Sell the truck buy a $5000 Volt apply for HOV tags, sell the Volt for $10000 in Cali because it has the new HOV tags due to never being in Cali.

Good Luck, commuting there can suck as can parking, mind find yourself wanting a motorcycle after living there a few months



Yep-going to be a major culture shock "traffic wise" in California.
 
Good call on the CAT thieves, they get stolen a lot on big SUVs and truck over here (and big cat like those can cost $1k), another reason not to get these vehicles unless you have a specific need (construction business) and secured parking.

Not sure if you can buy a $5k Volt or sell it for $10k here though, transportation and wait would likely be an issue.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
Luxury Car Owners Switching to Pickup Trucks
9 10 11
Replies
203
Views
16K
wpod
Back
Top